The Sewall Residential Academic Program, in which every student living in that CU-Boulder residence hall takes classes in the same area of study, will change its focus from American Studies to the American West during the 2002-03 academic year, program director and history Professor William Wei has announced.
"We will spend the next year making the transition from the theme of American Studies to the theme of the American West," Wei said.
The move will capitalize on CU-Boulder's interdisciplinary strength in the study of the American West and will allow the Sewall program to be more closely associated with the Center of the American West, the region's leading center in the study of Western issues.
"Being associated with the Center of the American West will provide students with the opportunity for a richer learning experience," Wei said.
Everyone who lives in Sewall Hall, about 330 students, most of them freshmen, participate in the residential program as part of a living and learning community, Wei said. All participants in the program are required to take at least one course per semester in the area of focus.
A new class, called "Conversations on the American West," taught by four core faculty members, will debut next fall and other classes will be added, Wei said. Each class will fulfill the U.S. context requirement of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The CU-Boulder Center of the American West this year sponsored about 40 public events including lectures, workshops, readings, discussions and performances. The center is chaired by a nationally renowned scholar of the American West, history Professor Patricia Nelson Limerick, and is located near Sewall in Macky Auditorium. Wei is a member of the center's executive board.
"We welcome and celebrate this opportunity to involve students in the project of deepening the West's self-understanding," Limerick said. "Working on issues that really matter in the world around them will give students a powerful sense of meaning in their class work."
Last fall, the study of the American West was named one of the CU-Boulder campus' top three areas of excellence in a report prepared for the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Higher Education.
For information about the Sewall Residential Academic Program call (303) 492-3378, or visit the Web site at . For information about the CU-Boulder Center of the American West call (303) 492-4879 or visit .